Chapter 7

He was already holding onto the tall, thin man with one hand, and now trying to break free to confront Ellis was clearly beyond his capability.

When the man instinctively reached out his arm toward her, Ellis easily dodged his movement.

“Allow me to interrupt you. I think there’s been some misunderstanding,” Ellis said cautiously as she stepped back to a safe distance, all the while sensing the half-body figure lurking in her shadow, ready to engage in combat at a moment’s notice.

More than the entanglement between the young man and this apothecary, Ellis was more focused on what he had just said.

“Did you just mention Ebony? Why did you say I’m his assistant?” Ellis asked.

“I’ve had several dealings with him. I’d leave items at designated spots, and he would send his assistant to pick them up. I’ve watched from the shadows a few times—you’re definitely the assistant,” the man said confidently. “You two must know each other.”

He was careful not to expose himself.

After hearing this, Ellis cursed Ebony silently once more.

She indeed had a score to settle with Ebony. She currently had no leads, so if she could glean something from this man, it wouldn’t be a bad thing.

Ellis spread her hands to appear non-threatening.

“I’m also looking for that bastard… If you happen to kill him by accident when you find him, I’ll be happy to lend a hand—like helping you bury him or something,” she said.

The young man looked at her with suspicion, hesitating whether to trust his own judgment or the words of this boy in front of him.

He stared at Ellis with unwavering vigilance. “What’s your relationship with him?”

“Like you, I was also deceived by him,” Ellis paused, allowing herself to appear sufficiently melancholic. “He took a huge sum of money from me—that was money my friends and I had saved for a long time. Now I don’t know what to do.”

The young man didn’t answer immediately.

To Ellis, his silence indicated he was wavering.

“What did he deceive you out of?” Ellis fixed her gaze on him. He was a young man with black hair and black eyes, seemingly not much older than herself.

“Money… and some potions I made. He said he’d share the profits after selling them,” he said. “I haven’t seen him since.”

After a moment’s thought, he asked again, his tone softer this time: “...What happened between you two?”

“He sold me fake medicine. I almost died because of it,” Ellis said. “I want to find him even more than you do. Honestly, after meeting you, I’ve started to worry.”

The man was taken aback. “Worry about what?”

Ellis said seriously, “He has quite a few enemies. If he dies at someone else’s hands before I find him, I’ll be at a huge loss. Don’t you think so?”

After a long pause, the young man’s lips moved: “...Lei. That’s my name.”

“Ellis. Nice to meet you,” she said. “Looks like you believe me now. Our interests align in finding Ebony.”

The earlier talk centered repeatedly on potions. Lei was an apothecary, the man he was holding was also an apothecary, and originally Ellis had been tricked into consuming fake medicine.

Was there a connection among all this?

Ellis turned to look at the tall, thin man pinned to the wall, who had been forced to listen to their conversation.

Lei noticed her gaze and volunteered an explanation: “He works with Ebony. I’ve seen Ebony coming out of his place.”

“You bastard, you even followed me home!” The tall, thin man, who had barely reacted moments ago to being held against the wall, almost jumped up at those words. “Regarding that bastard Ebony, I’m just as much a victim as you are!”

Lei replied coldly, “What kind of victim are you? Don’t think I don’t know the medicines you sell are all worthless junk. Ebony sells them at high prices, and you profit from it too.”

Ellis also stared at the tall, thin man.

He quickly defended himself, “I swear to the God of Contracts, the potion that almost killed you was definitely not made by me. The worst I do are some tasteless drinks with no effect. I promise they’re harmless. I—I really only wanted to scam some money, not kill anyone.”

Ellis kept up the skeptical gaze, pressing him to see if she could pry anything else out of him.

“I find it hard to trust your one-sided words,” she said.

“I’m half a victim too,” the tall, thin man murmured. “...I work for him because of a certain herb. He’s deceiving me too, just like he did with you. He gave me fake goods.”

This “Mr. Ebony” truly had a one-size-fits-all swindle—he scammed everyone equally.

Ellis’s earlier joke about fearing he’d die before she found him had now turned into genuine concern that he might be dealt with by enemies in some unknown corner.

Though she wasn’t obsessed with personally witnessing his punishment, at the very least she wanted him to cough up the money before he died.

Lei showed no sympathy. “Doing such deceitful things under the Lord’s watch—punishment is only deserved.”

The tall, thin man ignored him. “Enough talking. Let go of me. I don’t know Ebony’s current whereabouts either. Holding me won’t help…”

“Take me to your place,” Lei said grimly. “I don’t believe Ebony just vanished. You’re the prime suspect.”

The tall, thin man’s face darkened. “Don’t even think about it! This is breaking and entering!”

He tried to flee, but despite his height, he was clumsy, and Lei easily subdued him.

“I know where you live,” Lei threatened.

The tall, thin man finally gave up, ceasing resistance. “...Fine, but don’t blame me if you’re disappointed.”

Meanwhile, Ellis was looking at a mission prompt that had just appeared before her—a task she could choose to accept or decline.

[Mission: Find Ebony]

[Description: A despicable fraudster, unwilling to reveal his true name, has manipulated countless people, draining their wallets and squeezing their worth dry… This grand scheme, entrapping everyone in its web, abruptly ended with his sudden disappearance. The money he swindled vanished along with him. But is it really that simple?]

[Risk and opportunity coexist, but fortunately, we have the freedom to choose—accept the mission and delve into the mystery, or wisely preserve oneself and give up here.]

[Note: This mission contains many uncontrollable factors. Final rewards will be proportionally distributed according to the player's mission completion rate.]

After a brief moment of consideration, Ellis chose to accept.

She disliked trouble, but she knew her situation well. She urgently needed money and strength. Within two short months, she had to amass enough startup funds to begin her escape. Conventional methods were unlikely to succeed.

She was willing to take the risk.

“I’ll go with you,” she said.

Lei’s gaze flickered between Ellis and the tall, thin man.

He was suspicious by nature, and Ellis’s proactive offer to cooperate only heightened his doubts.

“If I were working with him, I’d have attacked you long ago,” Ellis shrugged. She looked up at the night sky. “Let’s save time. It’s already late.”

The night’s darkness and the tranquil moonlight gave her a sense of security. Her bloodline powers were more effective under the night’s veil, which bolstered her confidence.

After a short silence, Lei made his decision: “Fine, we’ll go together.”

“You two are quite united,” the tall, thin man snorted.

“Lead the way,” Ellis said.

On the way, Ellis started asking what she cared about: “When did he disappear? Was there anything unusual before you lost contact?”

“A week ago… roughly,” the tall, thin man said as he tried to pry Lei’s hand from his collar but failed.

“Your name?” Ellis asked.

“Kai,” he replied reluctantly. “There’s really nothing at my place. You’ll just waste your time following me.”

“We’ll judge that ourselves after we see,” Ellis said.

Logically, the more someone insists there’s nothing, the more likely they’re involved.

Lei didn’t lie; he had already staked out the tall, thin man’s residence. They took the shortest route to a dilapidated house hidden deep within a narrow alley.

Ellis stepped aside to let the tall, thin man open the door. She drew her weapon and stayed alert, ready to summon the shadow demon concealed in her shadow as a backup.

The shadow demon was conspicuous and could easily expose her identity as a member of the Shadowfolk, so she preferred not to use it unless necessary.

The moment the door opened, Kai crouched and quickly pulled something from his sleeve, throwing a powder at Lei. Lei instinctively dodged, giving Kai the chance to kick him away and rush inside.

Prepared for this, Ellis immediately drew a dagger and cast an oily spell on the ground. Kai slipped several meters, crashing into a cabinet.

With a loud thud, Kai clutched his head in pain and got up, grabbing several bottles of potions from the cabinet and hurling them at Ellis. She destroyed them with magic bullets.

Seeing Kai climb toward the window, Ellis closed her eyes and cast a bright light spell.

“Ah!” The dazzling light made Kai instinctively close his eyes and cover his face. Seizing the moment, Ellis pinned him to the ground.

Lei entered at that moment, clutching his stomach. Noticing their state, he pulled out his short staff and cast a binding spell on Kai.

Golden magical cords wrapped around Kai’s hands and feet.

Ellis looked at Kai, who was slowly opening his eyes, expressionless. “Calmed down now?”

“It hurts like hell…” Kai rubbed the sore spot on his back where he hit the cabinet. “I really didn’t know… Damn!”

Before his excuses could finish, Ellis watched in disbelief as white vapor rose from Kai’s body.

His limbs began to shrink, shortening from lengths far beyond his sleeves to just the right size. His face twisted as if wrung like a rag, his features changing shape. After a strange, unsettling transformation, the tall, thin man became a red-haired, blue-eyed girl about the same size as Ellis.

Ellis slowly formed a question mark with her fingers.

...How did he suddenly turn into a living, breathing person?

“...A transformation potion,” Lei said in shock as he looked at the subdued Kai. He crouched down to inspect her. “You… really went all out. To be a con artist, you even took transformation potions.”

Ellis caught the implication. She asked, “Are those expensive?”

Lei still found the situation somewhat baffling. He rubbed his forehead. “The materials aren’t costly, but it’s difficult to brew, so the price isn’t low.”

Kai said proudly, “I made them myself.”

Lei’s expression grew more complicated. “...If you have that ability, why scam people? Just selling transformation potions alone could make you quite a bit of money.”

“That’s too slow. I’m desperate for money and can’t wait,” Kai said. “Can we talk? Maybe you can let me go first. I promise I won’t run this time... I can’t beat you all anyway, so I’m not stupid enough to try again.”

Ellis adjusted her breathing and asked Lei, “What kinds of potions did she throw at us earlier?”

Lei joked, “You’re ordering me around quite naturally.”

But considering Ellis needed to restrain Kai, Lei dutifully went to work.

He inspected the leftover potion liquid and bottle labels.

“Some common mana supplements, cold medicine, and some harmless little things she made. All safe for humans… You going to let her go?”

Ellis nodded, and Lei dispelled the binding spell.

Freed, Kai slowly got up, still hissing in pain.

“I think I need treatment now,” she said. “Lei, can you get me a healing potion from the cabinet?”

Lei: “...What’s going on? Why is everyone suddenly bossing me around?”

Kai gave an unrefusable reason: “I want to get it myself. Do you really trust me to rummage around your place?”

Faced with those looks, Lei felt exasperated and said, “Fine! I’ll get it!”

After retrieving the potion, Kai lifted her shirt slightly under her cloak and rubbed some on her lower back.

Ellis observed her carefully: Kai looked about the same age, probably no older than sixteen. The clothes that had been slightly small before the transformation now fit perfectly. The clothes were worn and the house very modest, with only the bare essentials. It was clear Kai’s living conditions were not good.

That was puzzling.

Kai said she needed money and should have earned quite a bit from Ebony. Where had all that money gone?